High Five: 5 Festivals in New England You Must Get To
Its hards to believe as I sit here looking out my home office window with 2 feet of snow still on the ground around the old homestead and the mud piling up alongside 8 inch deep ruts down the driveway, that festival season is drawing nigh, but alas, it is. Starting this month even, musicians will ascend upon New England to celebrate music, perform for adoring festy crowds and have mini-reunions, in many cases, with their fellow tour ravaged friends and contemporaries. Sharing stories, songs and bit of soul shattering rock n’ roll attitude with audiences across this wonderful region that, I assume, a lot of you reading this, call home.
So, without vamping on too long about how the Subaru may get caught in the muck just driving to the grocery store, or how the sap tank is overflowing right now I need to get out and boil some maple syrup I’ll look upon brighter times filled with the sweet sound of music and big hugs and high fives from friends as we descend into the season of the festival and the general well being of our souls ascend to new heights while our bodies nearly collapse from the joy and exhaustion that these weekends generally inflict.
Here’s our top 5 New England festies you should know about…
Winter Wondergrass presents Sugar and Strings – April 13-14 (Stratton Mountain, Vermont) – While I must admit that standing outside when the weather was hovering in the teens watching music may not have necessarily been my cup of tea back in December (and judging by the 2020 date being pushing into April it may have been a general consensus), there is no denying that the WWG family truly has their sh*t together in putting together a killer line up and organizing a well oiled machine. Their inaugural year here in Vermont saw the likes of WWG vets Fruition and the Stringdusters alongside new favorites Billy Strings and Lindsay Lou. To celebrate they are again throwing a big old bash at Stratton this month with artists including our buds Twisted Pine, Will Mosheim and Beg, Steal or Borrow with Horseshoes & Hand Grenades and more. Even better, they are moving things to just outside the main base lodge to really hammer home that mountain experience. My hope is that the WWG fam keeps with that model and figures out the monsterous logistics of getting next year’s big event closer to the mountain action as well and really nails that “we are on a ski mountain” scenery. This late season hang is sure to be a more intimate and killer vibe from a group of folks who know how to throw a party.
Waking Windows – May 3-5 (Winooski, Vermont) – This is probably as “indie” or alternative we get here on RLR, but what Waking Windows does for local artists up here in Vermont (and their other events outside the state) is a wonderful thing. There is a hyper focus at WW for putting bands local to the area on display during the absolutely beautiful sh*tstorm of a weekend that ensues (thats a good thing, in case you were wondering). What started as a small, 12 day long festival at The Monkey House in Winooski VT (seriously, 12 day long fest, thats no small thing folks) in 2011 has exploded and evolved into a multi venue, multi city series of events promoting music, comedy, art, food and drink. This year’s plays host to an insane amount of special events, comedy sets and of course some of our favorite local rockers such as Clever Girls, Erin Cassels Brown and Julia Caesar with out of town buds Lula Wiles and badass Caroline Rose standing out on the bill. Its an experience. Going place to place around Winooski. Eating and drinking your way through a labyrinth of music and vibes. Get down, make a weekend out of it, then sleep for a few days afterwards.
Green River Festival -July 12-14 (Greenfield, MA) – While I don’t think (despite ‘bluegrass’ or some alluding factor being in their names) some of the other fests on this list are purely bluegrass festivals, Green River stands out as probably the most dynamic of these 5. Sure, there are very rootsy acts on the bill steeped in bluegrass tradition like Mamma’s Marmalade or some may even argue The Devil Makes Three, but its the honest to goodness variety that we love so much about Green River that lands it here on our list. Tyler Childers has quickly become my current favorite songwriter and his band is one of the most solid in the game right now. The Wood Brothers are a “never miss” band and last year Low Cut Connie sent shockwaves through the music landscape with their high energy set. Heavy hitters alongside local talent isn’t abnormal for these New England based fests, but GRF does a great job highlighting them. Its a super stacked line up, so I will just stop there and let you go check it out for yourself before I drone on too long…
Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots – August 15-18 (Manchester, Vermont) – To say that the first year of this festival holds a special place in my heart is vastly the most giant understatement I have ever made. Where many festivals are bloated with artists you could pretty much see at any festival around the area and beyond and line-ups are essentially interchangeable, GMBR has managed to curate something that is truly special and dear to the founder’s hearts. This is the music they love and want you to love as well and that shows taking a brief look at the line-up. This year sees genre juggernauts like Sam Bush and Darrell Scott in that slightly larger poster font with returning favs Mandolin Orange. Its when you get a little further down the list where you can see the true nature of this festival and wanting to share great artists you may or may not even know yet. Collaboration is key to the code of GMBR and sets like Eli West with Jonathan Reischman, Barnes/Gordy/Walsh, and Phillips/Grier/Flinner are indicative of that mentality. Honestly, tops the list for this music lover for all time fest experiences.
Freshgrass – September 20-22 (Mass MoCa, North Adams, MA) – Mavis Staples. I feel like thats really all I need to say to sell you on heading to Mass MoCa this September, but the rest of the FG line up is also pretty fierce per usual. An Iron&Wine/Calexico mash-up, Andrew Bird, The Travelin’ McCoury’s and Aoife O’Donovan as the artist in residence plus mainstays Allison Brown, Darol Anger and the Berklee Roots program always end up serving something special for the festival attendees to gobble up. Freshgrass is always the perfect way to flow on into the Autumn with the leaves in western Mass on the brink of changing and beating the rush of leaf peepers to the area. Plus, you never know who is going to pop up inside the museum or in a courtyard. Then if you get tired of music there isn’t a better place to be with art all around you from outdoor installations to giant galleries and halls…but really, with a line up like this how you could grow weary of the tunes?
So, get out folks…
